strap n Cp OED strop sb 2 'ring of rope with its ends spliced together' naut.
1 Band of rope used as a purchase for tackle in hoisting a load of seal pelts aboard a vessel; a load of seal pelts so hoisted; also attrib.
1924 ENGLAND 88 The straps passed through a bunch of sculps, and the 'wire' or rope from the winch dragged out from its pulley on a spar, by the whip-line, eager men hook the strap of seals to the wire. Ibid 140 In the lurid gloom, the 'strap o' swiles' hit the rail mushily, flattened, swung clear. The swinging dangle of sculps slid down the quivery mass that filled the deck from rail to hatch coaming... Black figures cast wavering, grotesque shadows as they dragged sculps, stooped to unstrap the pelts, wallowed in fat, and threw out the strap-lines again. 1925 Dial Notes v, 344 ~ 1. An endless rope to haul skins aboard with a winch. 2. A reckoning of ten skins.
2 A catch of trout slung on a flexible branch through the gills; GAD n.
1972 NEMEC 128 Children reciprocated by giving [the priest] berries they had picked, a 'strap' of trout they had caught.
3 Rope handle on a tub (1971 NOSEWORTHY 251).
4 A length of rope attached from one of the corners of a cod trap to a supporting buoy; BUOY LINE (P 127-80).
T 43/7-64 You make your rope straps and put [them] on there, when you get [the cod trap] measured up, and you gather up the corners [tight] to make a corner.
